This invention relates to the delivery of adjustable quantities of material, and, more particularly, to the dispensing of measured amounts of material from a dispenser.
The dispensing of measured amounts of materials are required in many situations. One such situation is the dispensing of incremental dosages of gels or paste materials. The latter are often used as medicaments.
The typical dispensation of gel or paste medicaments has made use of devices which are difficult to adjust and, once adjusted, easily disturbed from their preset adjustment.
Such is the case, for example, with the commonly used, continuously threaded plunger. This device has a retaining ring that is threaded on the plunger and rotated to a desired position. The threading of the retaining ring is often a slow and cumbersome procedure. In addition, once positioned it is a relatively simple matter to disturb the preset position. As a result, the accuracy and utility of this kind of device is far from satisfactory.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to facilitate the delivery of adjustable quantities of materials. A related object is to facilitate the dispensing of paste and gel materials, for example medicaments.
Another object of the invention is to achieve precision in the dispensing of materials. A related object is to achieve precision in the dispensing of gel and paste medicaments.
Still another object of the invention is to achieve control over the dispensing of materials in a simple and efficient way. A related object is to adjust the dispensed amount of materials in rapid fashion.
A still further object of the invention is to overcome the disadvantages associated with dispensers making use of continuously threaded plungers. A related object is to increase the ease of adjustment over that afforded by continuously threaded plungers. Still another related object is to achieve security in the setting established for the dispensing of material, particularly a medicament.